NEWS

"Poland’s democracy is strong. With reforms to ensure that our citizens have access to impartial, prompt, efficient and incorruptible justice, it will become stronger," writes Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for "Washinton Examiner".

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that the reforms of the judiciary in Poland undertaken by the current government do not contradict Western democratic standards and are aimed at repairing the inefficient institution.

Mateusz Morawiecki asserted that “no democratic nation can long accept having any branch of government independent of checks, balances, and public accountability”. In his view this is the case with today’s Poland. He also claimed that some judges nominated by communist-era courts still remain in place.

"Judges are assigned to cases by their close peers with no public oversight. Favors go to friends. Vengeance is wreaked on rivals. Bribes are demanded in some of the most lucrative-looking cases. Proceedings have sometimes been dragged out interminably in the service of wealthy and influential defendants. Justice has too often not been available to those lacking political connections and large bank accounts," writes Poland's Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister wrote that the measures taken by the government to improve the functioning of the judicial system include: requiring that cases be randomly assigned, setting time limits for the resolution of cases as well as requiring judges to complete, not pass along, the cases they start. "Far from radical, these and similar reforms that Poland is currently weighing are normal practice throughout Western democracies. Far from being dictatorial or compromising judicial independence, as some charge, they will introduce precisely the kinds of checks and balances that all liberal-minded people cherish in their own democracies," the Prime Minister stresses.

"Poland’s democracy is strong. With reforms to ensure that our citizens have access to impartial, prompt, efficient and incorruptible justice, it will become stronger" Mateusz Morawiecki concludes in his article published in washingtonexaminer.com.